The use of steel wire cable reinforcement in the construction of flexible carrying straps for baggage provides an increased level of security against theft, particularly that achieved by slicing the strap. A prior art design employs two elongate wire cables to reinforce carrying straps of this type, the wire cables running longitudinally and received in fabric sleeves, formed by folding and sewing one or more panels, with the sleeves extending along opposing edges of the strap. Enveloping the wires within separate elongate apertures in this way keeps the wires separated, helping the strap lie flat in use and avoiding one wire overlying another in a manner which may cause discomfort. It will be understood that although this prior art design also allows the straps to be readily manufactured using conventional sewing techniques, the number of separate manufacturing steps required tends to increase the component of labour costs in straps of this type.
Additionally, the longitudinal ends of straps of this general type typically include a loop by which an end of the strap is fastened to the baggage. Conventionally a length-adjustable strap may have an adjustable loop, through which the strap may be fed to vary the length of the strap. However, a drawback of this prior art strap construction is that if, due to load on the strap, the loop is collapsed to a small diameter then the wires may be permanently deformed, providing a kink in the wire which makes further adjustment difficult. Another disadvantage is that under certain loading conditions weight is unevenly distributed in the transverse direction between both of the wires. This produces, for example, a tendency for the highly loaded wire to dig into the wearer's shoulder with resulting discomfort. Likewise seams along edges of the fabric panels, from which the carrying strap is made, have in the past protruded from the outer contour to the strap and possibly caused some degree of discomfort, depending upon the thickness and stiffness of the fabric along the seam. It is an object of the present invention to overcome or substantially ameliorate the above disadvantages, or more generally to provide an improved wire cable reinforced carrying strap.